Left a Big 4 consulting firm a few years ago to a smaller firm for the pay bump. However now that I'm back on the hunt, I'm finding I can't even get a single interview in the consulting world, let alone T1/T2 firms.

Anyone else had experience with this? How did you get around it?

likefunny
Posting as :
works at
You are currently posting as works at

First red flag to me is that you’re at cognizant

likefunny

D3 was previously at acn can confirm the answer is no. I did know some folks that left to witch firms for title / pay bumps, but b4 and mbb (for strat) were the names that most frequently came up as competition.

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You gave up a lot more than you gained when you bounced to cognizant for a pay bump.

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got an mba yet? lmao

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How necessary is an MBA once your M+?

That’s why you always run from WITCH

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Have you been applying with referrals from people you’ve built connections with or that have reviewed your resume to see if you’re a good fit? That’s how you get in the door.

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Doing as many referrals as I can. Had a few chats with some tech companies but nothing has come to fruition just yet - markets not too hot there

What do you do now and what are you applying my for?

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There is a very elitist, potentially racist view of WITCH. Many people portray them as Indian off shore services who couldn’t possibly put together a quality piece of work. While it is true project quality and work culture isn’t comparable to B4/Accenture/American boutique. People tend to associate the brand value with individuals. Just know when people make comments about cognizant it isn’t about your personal work ethic/knowledge just the general view of the company itself.

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Hiring is basically freezing all over, the economy is bad.

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Not really sure cognizant is really “smaller” than a big 4..

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Mainly said that from a consulting perspective - globally we are still quite large

Every project at Cognizant or “WITCH” I’ve been a part of is a clean up after Big 4 gets kicked out, and/or a client that would never pay Big 4 real money again.

Literally the only things I hear clients say - “I don’t know what <EY, PWC, ACN, etc.> is doing”, “<EY, PWC, ACN, etc.> f’d this up, can you fix it?”

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Ah OP you”ll figure this out
And lesson learned is to avoid WITCH

Try the referral route or big tech

OP this likely has more to do with the economic climate than the cognizant name. Just work on your resume and building connections. I know a number of folks who went ACN > Witch > T2, and others who landed at industry in good spots.

having the same problem trying to leave Cog 😔 referrals seem to be the key for everyone else who exited but it’s a tough market rn

Run from WITCH or you’re gonna be the one who gets burned

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